What does "Boomeranged" mean? At the end of this video, Ryan, from the New Zealand Air Force, will explain. First, check out my 3-minute video showing the highlights of the day.
Preparation At The United States Antarctic Program's CDC(abbreviation) Clothing Distribution Center (or Centre as they spell it in New Zealand)
The United States has a facility here in New Zealand where those traveling to the U.S. science station at McMurdo will receive training, proper extreme cold weather gear, and make final preparations before climbing into the Air Force planes to get to the ice.
I will do another entry on all the many things I learned, and requirements we will live by to keep Antarctica pristine.
This picture tells two stories. First, notice my stylin' penguin socks. All my family had these for Christmas Eve. It made for a great family picture of happy feet. Second, I wear size 14 shoe and was informed early in this process that the CDC(abbreviation) Clothing Distribution Center (or Centre as they spell it in New Zealand) would not have ECW(abbreviation) Extreme Cold Weather clothing boots that would fit me. I have already sent down a pair of my own boots. I was kind of bummed that I would have to use my own boots rather than use their tried and tested cold weather boots. Today, to my surprise, as I unzipped my bag of ECW(abbreviation) Extreme Cold Weather clothing prepared by the United States Antarctic Program personnel, i noticed some brand new, size 14 Baffin boots. I slipped my feet into those beauties and wouldn't you know it...perfect fit! It's going to be 7 weeks of happy feet! Hats off to the awesome USAP(abbreviation) United States Antarctic Program folks.
Time To Go Flying After A Short Delay
With our ECW(abbreviation) Extreme Cold Weather clothing gear checked out and on, and training complete, it was finally time to fly. We went through security just like at any other airport, got our boarding passes, and then waited. We were told there would be about an hour delay for our flight. I have never been more stoked for a flight delay. Here I was at the US Antarctic Program's training and support facility, stuck in a room with some of the world's top scientists. I felt totally comfortable approaching anyone in the room to ask them their reason for going to the ice. I met one scientist who would be in a very remote location on Antarctic glaciers, for about six weeks, studying the chemistry of the ice. Another was headed to the South Pole to study cosmic dust. She was able to tell whether this dust was from our solar system or another. One scientist had been there over 20 times. He was launching weather balloons that were 1000 feet tall. Launching them is the easy part. Retrieving them in the remote, harsh locations they land is another story. Dr Adams showed us around this training room, which was like a museum. He told us stories about past aircraft that was used in the past, one of which had crashed, and is still implanted out in the ice in the area of our runway.
This is Dr. Craig Cary. Dr. Cary is a world famous scientist who studies bacteria. Not that interested in bacteria you say? Watch this TED talk he did and your opinion of bacteria will change.
Dr. Cary chatted with me about bacteria he has observed on the sea floor while in Alvin, a submarine owned by the Navy. He was several thousand feet below the surface of the ocean. He told me of his work he has done on Mt. Erebus, the most southern active volcano (I will be able to see it from McMurdo). To be honest, I was kind of sad that it was time to go get on the plane. In our short chat, we talked about deep dives, climbs to volcanoes, and the amazing world of bacteria.
Stay tuned to see if we will leave beautiful New Zealand tomorrow and make it to Antarctica. But first, check out this cool New Zealand Air Force officer as he explains "boomeranging".
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